The Original Owl Bar & Cafe

We stopped in the Owl on a Saturday afternoon, primarily because the Buckeye down the street closes at 3 (what's up with that?). Our first visit.Positives - Green Chile Cheeseburgers were excellent, living up to their reputations. A great combination of flavors and textures.Meh - Craft beers were okay, but draft would be better. Fries and onion rings were okay, but portion sizes were small.Negatives - Worst service that we have experienced anywhere in quite a while. Server comes for our orders, after never giving us menus. The order was wrong, skipping one order of onion rings, and getting one burger wrong (wasn't supposed to be green chile). We never got utensils or napkins, despite our server telling us they would be getting them. One of our party got up and found them on our own, near the conclusion of our meal. Conclusion - Go to the Buckeye down the street.

Now that I had tried the burger joint across the street, we had to stop here. We made it just during the lunch rush (everyone was pretty much gone by the time we left). Service was friendly and food came out quickly. The decor was a little quirky with dollar bills and notes on the walls and pictures of famous people who had eaten there. Prices were reasonable ($21 for 2 burgers and an iced tea) and the green chile cheeseburger was good, but maybe not one of the top GCC's that I've had in the state. 2024 #38

It's a seat yourself place so walk in and find a table. Service was good. Server was quick to get our drink orders and took orders all at one time. We didn't have to wait very long at all for our food. It seemed like it was out in about ten minutes or so. I had the green chile cheese burger and order of the green chile fries. Both were excellent! It is a bar and grill so you are greeted with the bar as soon as you walk in, but there are booths and tables in the same room and another room has more tables and chairs. The vibe is that it's a very causal place and kiddos are welcome!I'd definitely go back again!

We grabbed some bloody Mary's and green chile cheese fries after we saw the cranes at the Bosque early this morning. Great atmosphere, really sweet waitress

Owl by MyselfNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge part 2 of 4First opened in 1945 after the war by veteran Frank Chavez, the Owl Bar & Café has been a staple on this side of New Mexico serving up the locals, as well as passing travelers good food and plenty of libations. Their Green Chile Cheeseburger has been on the menu since '48, and is purported to be the same recipe as back then. The Owl Bar was definitely a must-do in my Green Chile Cheeseburger challenge and seemed like a worthy contender.Green Chile Burger:The Bun: It's probably the worst out of the four buns I tried, as it didn't seem more than a grocery store hamburger bun, and not even a good one at that. 2/5Green Chiles: Check! There's nothing to complain about here! 5/5Cheese: The NM standard for cheese is a slice--or three--of American cheese, and they got that right here. 5/5Ancillary topping: It does come with my standard Burger accouterments of lettuce and tomatoes, but in this case, I feel like they should've left them off as their flavors kinda water down the chiles. I do give them bonus points for using shredded lettuce, which is always a classy move. 3/5Burger: Possibly the best pure burger out of the four as it's served smashburger-style with a nice hearty crust so that one can taste the years pit into that grill in every sense. 5/5Fries: Their housemade fries and rings are superlative. And whatever you do, don't be shy and get the green chile cheese fries--mind blowing stuff! 5/5Conclusion: Overall, at 25 out of 30 points, turns out a very not bad Green Chile Cheeseburger, but unfortunately, they took third out of fourth place in this hotly fought battle royale (w/ Cheese). Other observations:*Huge bar but none of the beers are on-tap*Service was Jekly-or-Hyde of one minute she loved us, and the next, she hated us. *Fairly large menu that includes breakfast *Very inexpensive (by Cali standards anyhow)*Small dirt lot parkingConclusion: Despite having what might be the best Burger in the competition, Owl Bar misses out on a few key details to put them over the top. However, they're still a fine dining option if you're in the area. **I know calling something "the best" is really lame and very arbitrary, but I need to do things like this to entertain myself.

First time at this historic bar & cafe and it was worth the visit. Service is very friendly and they will bring your food and beverages out to the patio. Their world famous green chile cheeseburger is full of flavor - a smashed burger with melted cheese, daily homemade green chile, with all the fixings at an unbelievable price of $6. "Prospectors", aka atomic scientists, such as Oppenheimer and Teller have had this same burger and the recipe hasn't changed since 1948. They have a great patio in back where your dogs can relax and explore if you are on a long road trip.

What fun! A road trip for a few days to Bosque del Apache and decided to go to original Owl Cafe. Have been to the one in Albuquerque which has amazing burgers. Same here. Photo is what's left over which is a lot as I don't eat much. We didn't realize was so close to the Trinity site as shown in the movie Oppenheimer. They could see the blast from here. Super interesting as is truly a piece of history. Another reason to see all this beautiful state has to offer!

Every once in a while, maybe twice a year or so I like going to eat at the Owl bar in San Antonio. They have really good green chile cheeseburgers, one of the best anywhere. The service has always been friendly and great in my opinion. The restaurant is dimly lit and cozy. The food comes out really fast. I wish there were chips and salsa that would be great so instead I got a cup of beans and chile and that was delicious. My BDGCCB was great. Next time I'm going to get a triple! My daughter couldn't finish her Chile cheese fries so I helped her and I have to say I prefer shredded cheese over nacho cheese which these had but they were still good. I had an order of onion rings with my burger and this place has some of the best onion rings anywhere. Prices are average for these days. No complaints here. The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is because the Chile wasn't hot, but was tasty and I like when all the food comes out together and here they brought our sides a few minutes ahead of our burgers. No big deal but that's why. Two thumbs up from me! Can't wait to come back soon!

We had the green chili cheeseburger and fries. $18.The green chili cheeseburger was one of the best we have had to date. It was definitely worth the drive from Albuquerque since none of the green chili cheeseburgers we had there lately stack up.The fries were very good too. They were not as crispy as most but they were flavorful.This place really hit the spot and would have been 5 stars except for an unfortunate turn of events.. ..which was dinner at "The Ranchers" in Ruidoso which had a green chili cheeseburger that was easily twice as good. Therefore, this meal can't be rated as 5 stars knowing that we had a real 5 star meal later in the day.

Very friendly very kind servers. Nice atmosphere... same same as it's been for many many years. Delicious food. Consistency in the taste of their food. I've never had a bad meal or inconsistent meal here.